In our maiden reaction to the results of the recent OLM Board election, the PeopletoPeople news magazine congratulated you--members of the new-elected Board of Directors of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM)--on your victory.

We also recognized that your election offers a great opportunity to renew our hopes in the vision that led to the establishment of the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota, OLM. This is made all the more possible because you represent some of the best our community is endowed with—leaders of diverse perspectives and passions.

It might, however, be useful to remind you that while the past OLM leaderships have laid a foundation on which to unleash your potentials, you inherited a flawed and unedited constitution and a polarized community along many fault lines. You also have an overbearing presence of an outgoing leadership that relishes every moment to give the impression that the newly-elected board was created in its image—handpicked to project its wishes or recruited to implement policies in predetermined manners.

Worse, some members of our outgoing leadership seem intent on perpetuating this perception--that the new OLM Board is simply a collection of powerless titleholders, whose perceived power lies not in their own hands but rather in the egos of a select few, most of whom did not even participate in the just ended elections. In their minds, your main role is to sing their praises and build statures in their honor.

Margeret Tweh	Kamaty L Diahn		J. Clarence Yaskey	Bangalee A. Trawally

This attempt to reduce our elected officers to errand boys and girls, if not caricatures, could cast crippling doubts on their abilities and judgment. This kind of self-serving narrative, drenched in insults, paints misleading images of our new leaders, deprives us of the opportunity to learn what unique leadership asset each board member really offers our community, and exposes the extent to which some of our past leaders have clung onto outdated, dictatorial leadership impulses.

Well, we have observed how hard some members of the outgoing leadership have tried to make you appear in the public, the distorted lenses through which they want us to see you as elected officers. But it is only you—members of our new board—who can and must reveal who you really are; your defining decision-making styles. It is absolutely up to you to prove that you are an independent-minded team and that your decision will be based purely on the merit of each and every issue, using the broader interest of our community as a backdrop.

Zubah G. Kpanaku	Christopher N. Wylie	Richard W., Parker	Henry Y. Kesselly

Or, you might as well fulfill your side of the bargain, if you actually consented to serve as stooges, acting out decisions handed down from some self-styled political bosses to their newfound puppets. The choice is yours!